Perceptions of the Innocent

The first night she went to the Midnight Carnival, Nan told Darcie to go to bed early, because she had broken her doll again. As Nan tucked Darcie in and told her what a bad girl she had been before kissing her on the forehead and leaving the room, neither the nurse nor the girl had any idea of the adventures in store for that night.

Darcie was restless. Darcie did not want to go to bed early. Darcie was not tired. Darcie wanted to play.

A flutter by the window; what could it be? Out of curiosity, Darcie pushed the covers away from her little body and climbed out of bed, going to the window and putting her hands on the pane. A shining black butterfly flew outside. She reached to catch it, and it tripped away on the night wind, teasing Darcie. She laughed quietly, reaching out towards the butterfly. Another sound seemed to come from nowhere…a smaller laugh. The butterfly lighted on her finger and Darcie whispered. "Quiet now…Nan might hear."

The butterfly's antennae twitched in acknowledgement, and then it lifted itself into the air again, staying near the window. Darcie's eyes widened. "You want me to come with you?"

Out of the window and onto the roof, around the awning and down the trellis, Darcie followed the butterfly, onto the soft grass, wet with rain from that evening. The sky held an ethereal glow characteristic of cloudy nights, and the moon just barely peeked out from behind the gray pillows. The butterfly was clearly visible in this light as it led Darcie away from the house and out to the woods.

Darcie had traveled many of the paths in the woods with Nan before, but this was one she had never seen before. It twisted and turned through thickets and brambles – Nan had told her to stay away from this place, she knew, but Darcie trusted the butterfly. She could feel that the butterfly was good and that it was leading her to even more fun.

There was light up ahead, and Darcie squinted as she emerged from the trees with the butterfly and beheld a cornucopia of delight. Lights – sounds – smells – Darcie's senses delighted at the Midnight Carnival.

The Skeleton Man tipped his large purple hat at her, giving her a powder white grin and bowing slightly. "Welcome," he rasped, "May I have your name?"

"My name is Darcie," she whispered in awe. The stark white of his bones contrasted greatly with her pink flesh as he took her hand and made to kiss it, although he had no lips.

"It's a pleasure, Ms. Darcie. My name is Bones, and I will be your host for the evening. Please, come this way."

She followed him through the entrance to the Carnival, between the great stone statues that stood as sentinels to the fair, winking at her with what should have been blind eyes. "Where are we?" she said quietly.

"You have just entered the Midnight Carnival, Ms. Darcie," he told her, the butterfly landing on his hat and looking as if it belonged there, "We are simply delighted to have you; it's not often that we get such honored guests as yourself."

"I'm honored?" she asked, smiling.

"Yes," he nodded, "You are just the kind of person we love to have here; we're dying to keep you happy."

Bones took Darcie to the fun house, where Darcie and her reflection played tag in the room of mirrors. Bones took Darcie to the concession stand, where she ate cakes and other treats alongside a beautiful lady with crimson lips and a fanged smile. Bones took Darcie to the rollercoaster, where Darcie rode along on the back of a large black spider. But lastly, Bones took Darcie to the Ferris Wheel.

Darcie had been looking forward to riding the Ferris Wheel since she had arrived at the Carnival; she had seen it from the entrance, when she and the butterfly had first met Bones. Bones lifted her up into one of the cars, next to a boy about her age with a runny nose. "Have fun," he said, smiling, as the ride started and the car lifted up into the air.

The boy was crying, Darcie realized. She frowned, looking over at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

The boy looked at her with scared eyes, sniffling pitifully. "I'm scared," he said.

"But why?" she asked.

There was something wrong with him, Darcie noticed. His skin was too pale and his cheeks had none of the rosy blossom of youth. "I…I got sick a few days ago and I died tonight," he said, "And now I'm stuck here. Forever."

"Oh, don't be silly," Darcie laughed, "Why wouldn't you want to be stuck here?"

When she got off of the Ferris Wheel, Bones took her hand and leaned down to talk to her. "Darcie, it's time to go now," he rasped out, no breath coming from his mouth.

"But how do I find the way?" she asked.

"Just follow the butterfly," he said. And the butterfly flew off of his hat and returned to Darcie's finger.

"Can I come back tomorrow night?" she asked.

"Of course." Bones grinned. "We'll be expecting you.

But Darcie didn't go back to the Carnival. Darcie did not go back that night or the next night. Or the night after that. Darcie grew up, and Nan died, and Darcie went to university, and she dismissed the Midnight Carnival as nothing more than a dream.

Darcie had a dream one night as she lay in bed with her husband. His snoring smoothly faded out of her senses as the shining butterfly beckoned here out to the woods, and then down the twisting path and back to the Midnight Carnival. Bones met her at the door, and what she saw now terrified her. Bones dragged her through the different rides against her will; her doppelganger chased her through the house of mirrors, the vampire watched her as it waited to feed, and the monstrous black spider pursued her through a confusing network of webs.

When she took a seat in the Ferris Wheel she was sniffling along with the boy's ghost. And when she got off of the ride at the end, Bones took her hand and he cried.

"What's wrong?" she asked in confusion as tears poured down the monster's skeletal face.

Bones just shook his head, and she tore herself away from him to leave the Carnival.

"We are the stuff of nightmares," he said finally, quietly, to himself, "It's not often that we get to be the creatures of dreams."